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France leads global football’s digital audience as Brazil posts the fastest follower growth ahead of the 2026 World Cup

• France, Brazil, England, Portugal and Argentina are the five national teams with the largest digital fan bases in the world

• The Brazilian National Team led growth during the period and, alongside Portugal, France, Morocco and Spain, accounted for 55% of all new global subscriptions during the semester

• Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) represent nearly 50% of total combined followers, while South America records the highest average follower base among teams affiliated with the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL)

São Paulo, June 9, 2026 – With the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 scheduled for next Thursday (June 11) at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, IBOPE Repucom, the sports marketing research division of the IBOPE, releases the special edition of the Global Digital Ranking of National Football Teams, a study that maps the follower volume of 60 national teams across their official Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok accounts.

The five national teams with the largest digital fan bases in 2026

France (53 million followers), Brazil (46 million), England (43 million), Portugal (42 million) and Argentina (32 million) are the national football teams with the largest follower bases worldwide. Together, they account for 216 million subscriptions, representing 43% of the 500 million subscriptions recorded across all official social media platforms analyzed.

The national teams with the highest growth during the semester

Since the December 2025 edition, the 60 national teams analyzed have added approximately 38 million new followers across their official profiles. The TOP 5 fastest-growing national teams over the last six months were Brazil (7.9M), Portugal (4.7M), France (3.8M), Morocco (2.2M) and Spain (2.1M). Together, they accounted for more than half of all new subscriptions during the period (55%), representing 20.7 million new followers.

Brazilian National Team leads growth and regains second place globally

The CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) delivered the strongest performance among all national teams analyzed, adding 7.9 million new subscriptions across its official social media platforms during the period. Instagram and TikTok represented 96% of this growth, each contributing approximately 4 million new followers.

The Brazilian National Team led growth on Instagram and became the largest national team account on the platform worldwide. As a result, Brazil surpassed England and reclaimed second place in the overall ranking.

Portugal recorded the second-highest digital growth among all national football teams. The FPF (Portuguese Football Federation) added 4.7 million new followers, of which 68% came from its TikTok profile. Portugal also ranked among the strongest performers on Instagram, with 932 thousand new followers, and Facebook, with 500 thousand.

France, the overall ranking leader, posted the third-largest increase with 3.8 million new subscriptions across its platforms. More than 60% of this growth originated from TikTok. With this performance, the FFF (French Football Federation) maintains its leadership position with 53 million subscriptions, holding a six-million advantage over Brazil, which ranks second.

Morocco ranked fourth after adding 2.2 million new subscriptions, driven primarily by Instagram, which accounted for 60% of its growth. With this result, the Moroccan national team surpassed both the United States, one of the tournament’s host nations, and the Netherlands, moving up to 12th place in the overall ranking with 10.6 million subscriptions.

Spain completes the TOP 5 of national teams that attracted the most new fans to their digital accounts during the semester. Overall, the RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation) gained 2.1 million new followers across its social media channels, with 72% originating from TikTok. This performance allowed Spain to move up one position and currently rank seventh overall.

Europe

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) remained the leading confederation by total combined followers, reaching 242.6 million across the platforms of the 23 national teams analyzed. Since December 2025, UEFA teams have accumulated more than 14.6 million new subscriptions, led by Portugal (+4.7 million), France (+3.8 million) and Spain (+2.1 million). These three national teams accounted for 72% of all new European subscriptions during the period.

South America

National teams affiliated with the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) represent the second-largest volume, with 121 million subscriptions across the eight teams included in the ranking. Brazil (46.4 million subscriptions) remains South America’s leading digital force, followed by Argentina (31.6 million) and Colombia (18.4 million). Together, these three teams account for approximately 80% of CONMEBOL’s total subscriptions among the ranked national teams. These three national teams also recorded the highest follower growth over the last six months: Brazil added 7.9 million new followers, followed by Argentina with 1.6 million and Colombia with 850 thousand.

Africa

The eleven African national teams analyzed collectively account for 45.4 million subscriptions across social media platforms. Morocco leads the digital presence of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) with 10.6 million followers, followed by Algeria (8.9 million) and Senegal (6.2 million). Together, these three teams represent 57% of all subscriptions among CAF national teams. This volume positions CAF as the third-largest confederation by total combined followers.

North America, Central America and the Caribbean

The national teams of Mexico (30.9 million subscriptions), the United States (9 million) and Canada (1.3 million) — the host countries of the FIFA World Cup 2026 — collectively account for 41 million subscriptions across social media platforms. Together, they represent 92% of the 45.2 million subscriptions registered among the seven Concacaf teams analyzed.

Asia

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) totals 42.5 million subscriptions across the combined platforms of the ten national teams analyzed. Japan was the confederation’s top performer during the period, recording 761 thousand new subscriptions, which represents 51% of all growth generated by the Asian national teams monitored in the study.

Additional Highlights

• Brazil has the largest Instagram account, with 22.9 million followers;
• France has the largest TikTok account, with nearly 17 million followers;
• England has the largest X account, with 6.1 million followers;
• TikTok accounted for more than half (58%, or 22 million) of all new subscriptions among the 60 national teams analyzed during the last six months;
• Germany (9th overall) has 6.9 million followers on Facebook, more than Portugal (4th) and Argentina (5th);
• Colombia (10th) has more followers on X than Brazil (2nd) and Spain (7th);
• Indonesia, despite not qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026, has more TikTok followers than all seven Concacaf national teams combined;
• The Netherlands (13th) has 3.6 million TikTok followers, more than Germany (9th), Colombia (10th), Italy (11th) and Morocco (12th);
• South Korea (30th) has more subscribers on YouTube than Portugal (4th), Argentina (5th), Mexico (6th) and Spain (7th);
• Uzbekistan (53rd overall) has more subscribers on YouTube than Portugal (4th) and Argentina (5th).

Danilo Amâncio,

Marketing Coordinator at IBOPE Repucom and lead author of the global study, commented: “Social media has reshaped the dynamics of global football. What was once a fragmented passion is now organized into measurable, segmented digital ecosystems with strong commercial activation potential. National teams have evolved into brands with owned audiences, significantly increasing the value equation for sponsors.

The expansion of the FIFA World Cup to 48 national teams accelerates this shift. Each newly qualified country activates a fan community that begins to follow, consume and engage with the tournament on an ongoing basis. The impact goes beyond audience reach: it expands the tournament’s commercial footprint and unlocks access to markets that once sat at the periphery of the FIFA World Cup but are now becoming part of its strategic growth agenda. This reinforces the tournament’s position as one of the most valuable business platforms in global sport.”

See the latest ranking below:

Source: IBOPE Repucom – Global Digital Ranking of National Football Teams
The study analyzes the follower volume of 60 national football teams across their official social media profiles — including the 48 teams qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 12 teams with the largest digital fan bases among those that have previously participated in the tournament. Self-reported figures are not considered; only official follower counts provided by the platforms themselves are included.